It’s so new and different that we’ve had to come up with a new word to describe it.
e-logging
Telecost is an easy to use package that runs on any normal PC (subject to minimum specifications). The main front end doesn't even need to be running in order for the system to collect data and run the agents. The front end provides simple to use reporting and setup features to make your telephone system management a doddle.
We offer a demonstration version of the software for you to try at your convenience. The Call Record Collection program is not part of the demo, so no call logging can take place. If you want to download the demo then click here. We always welcome feedback on the software.
Call Record
Collection
The Call Record Collection function of Telecost operates as a stand-alone
program that reads the data coming off the serial cable from your PABX (for
some PABXs data is read directly from the LAN), costs up the calls and saves
them to the database in real-time. Once the port settings and database location
have been finalised the program will remember these each time it starts up,
although for uninterrupted call collection it would be advisable to have this
program on an "always-on" machine or server.
Database
Telecost is based on a fully relational database structure which is ODBC compliant.
This means that Telecost is both powerful and simple in operation and it is
easy for us to upgrade the database from time to time with sophisticated new
features.
Organisational Structure and Staff Details
The database can hold details of your organisational structure and employee
details. The organisation can be divided into many parts and these can be
rearranged at will using the drag-and-drop features. There are NO
LIMITS to
the size and depth of the organisational structure that can be created.
Charging
Tables
The Telecost database holds charging tables for multiple telephone companies
which also take into account changes in the price structures over time, so
that if you want to re-import old call record data they will be re-costed accurately.
Trunks and
Extensions
In the database are details of your trunk connections to telephone companies,
and your telephone extensions.
Standard
Reports
Telecost allows you to print a report, preview a report, export a report to
a variety (27 different types) of output formats including Excel, Word and
Adobe Acrobat, or e-mail a report . Furthermore, Telecost allows you to search
a report for a character string. Telecost comes with a wide range of standard
reports which can be further customised by using the extensive data selection
that is available. These selections can be saved for future use. Relative
Dates are available, so that for example Last Month is always Last Month without having to go and change it every 1st day of a month.
Report
Generator
If you need to produce several reports at fixed times, then the automatic
reporting facilities and report grouping facilities in Telecost will prove
invaluable. A group of reports can be set up and all run together when you
decide or added to a schedule to run them at fixed intervals (be it weekly,
monthly, every n days, etc.)
Graphs
Telecost produces bar and pie charts showing information graphically. These
can be copied and pasted into drawing or word processing applications for
further manipulation.
Documentation
Telecost comes complete with manuals in Acrobat Reader (PDF) format and associated
help files in the latest format.
Support
Telecost comes with a variety of support packages to suit your every need.
We will always try to answer any questions or solve any problems you have
with the efficiency and friendliness that you would expect.
· Real Time Data Collection this allows immediate access to data. Calls are costed and available to be reported upon as soon as the data is collected.
· Ability to read PABX data from text files
· Web browser access
· Agents that send e-mails when certain user defined values are exceeded
· Unlimited Depth to Organisational Structure
· Drag and Drop feature for reorganisation
· Extensive Data Selection Criteria
· Relative dates that allow you to specify dates such as last week, last month or last year
· Print Preview with rapid navigation available on all reports and graphs
· Creates text files of PABX data as it runs
· Export Reports and Charts to many (27 on our machines!) different popular output formats including Microsoft Office products (Word Excel etc) Adobe Acrobat, Lotus 1-2-3
· Interchange data with Microsoft Outlook
· Automatic Report production of one or a series of reports and/or graphs either automatically or by user choice
· Help files
· Acrobat (.pdf) manuals
To fully understand the versatility on offer with Telecost you need to comprehend
the power afforded to you by data selection. As an example let us consider
a simple report such as Outgoing Calls. Using data selection you can transform
the Outgoing Call report into:-
· Outgoing Calls last week, or last fortnight, or last month, or last quarter, or last year or last n days where you choose n
· Outgoing Calls made during the working week (Monday to Friday), or at the weekend (Saturday and Sunday)
· Outgoing Calls during between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm or between 5.00 pm and 9.00 am
· Outgoing Calls costing greater than a certain value e.g. £2.00
· Outgoing Calls lasting longer than a given time e.g. 20 minutes
· Outgoing Calls made at a particular rate e.g. economy rate
· Outgoing Calls made over a particular network e.g BT
· Outgoing Calls made by a particular extension
· Outgoing Calls made over a particular trunk line
· Outgoing Calls made by a particular part of your organisation e.g Sales Department this can include "owned" departments as well if you wish
· Outgoing Calls associated with a project (defined by you)
· Outgoing Calls to a particular named contact
· Outgoing Calls to a particular number
· Outgoing National Calls
· Outgoing International Calls
· Outgoing Mobile Calls
· Outgoing Calls to a particular STD Code e.g. Birmingham
Furthermore you use the data selection criteria in combination e.g Outgoing Calls made to Manchester by extension 236 lasting more than 15 minutes and costing more than £1.50.
With Advanced Data Selection much more complex data selection criteria can be specified.
Data selection criteria can be saved, no matter how complex, they can then be recalled in a couple of clicks and used again either in manually generated reports or automatic reports.
Agents
Agents are the facilities in Telecost that allow you to automatically monitor
your telephone system's performance and have the system e-mail you if threshold
values are exceeded. Traditional call loggers passively collect data and allow
you to run reports and graphs to see how your system is performing. Telecost
allows you, via agents, to set threshold values which, if they are exceeded,
will result in an e-mail being sent to a predefined destination with a report
of the transgression. Using suitable gateways such e-mails can be diverted
to SMS messages (which are the text messages on mobile phones) or even fax
machines.
There are now 11 different agents
Call Duration Exceeded
Call Cost Exceeded
Average Wait for Organisation
Average Wait for Extension
Daily Cost for Organisation
Daily Cost for Extension
Daily Duration for Organisation
Daily Duration for Extension
Dialled Number
Disk Space Low
Idle Time Warning
In order for this facility to work you will need the PC on which your version of Telecost is running to be connected to a TCP/IP network which has access to a SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Host. If you are able to send and receive e-mails from the PC without using a dial up modem then Agents will probably work for you immediately, otherwise some adjustment to your configuration may be necessary.
Switchboard
To make any use of the Telecost Call Management software you will need to
have a PABX with a logging or printer port, or a Network Alchemy or IP Office
product with a LAN connection. Almost every type of PABX now has an output
port and if it doesn't there should be an upgrade available from your equipment
supplier. The port will either be a 9 pin RS232 port or one that looks like
a 25 pin parallel port.
PC
You'll need a personal computer to run the Telecost software.
Intel Pentium or AMD processor or better
Microsoft Windows 9x, ME, NT, 2000 or XP operating systems
32 Mb RAM
20 Mb available hard disk space (minimum install)
disk space for the information you collect
Serial Port for connection to non-Network Alchemy PABXs
LAN connection for Network Alchemy PABXs
Telecost can also be run over a LAN.
Cable
A serial cable to go from the switchboard's logging or printer port to the
computer's serial port. The best source for this is your switchboard supplier,
as there are sometimes non-standard features of the port. Make sure that the
cable is long enough to connect to the computer you plan to use, or that you
will be able to move the computer nearer to the PABX.
Telecost
A licensed copy of the Telecost software.
Below we present some typical screenshots from Telecost. The screenshots presented are only a small sample of those that are available with Telecost. This is a brief presentation and can only skim the surface. If you require more why not download the demonstration or some documentation? click here.
Please note that simple and advanced data selection is available for all reports and charts.
Call Summary by Destination - a Sample Report
Telecost presents for each Destination the dialling code, the number of calls, the total duration and total cost for each of the different charge bands. The data is presented in ascending dialling code order. Special Services such as mobile phones are presented at the end of the report. Click on the thumbnail to see the expanded graphic.
Call Breakdown by Extension - a Sample Bar Chart
Call Breakdown by Extension can we viewed in a number of ways.
The execution pattern is the same for all the graphs and they all produce a similar default output of a stacked bar chart, an example is given below. Click on the thumbnail to see the expanded graphic.
Answer Performance Pie Chart - a Sample Pie Chart
The pie chart gives you an overall picture of how quickly incoming calls to your organisation were answered. You can choose the time intervals reported on although sensible defaults are provided. Click on the thumbnail to see the expanded graphic.
Employee Maintenance - a Typical Maintenance Window
Through this window you Add, Modify and Delete employees. The column headers, Name, Job Title, Organisation and Extension are buttons that allow you to sort the data on that key. The first click on the column header sorts that data in ascending order, the next click will sort the data in descending order. Click on the thumbnail to see the expanded graphic.
Maintaining Your Organisational Structure with Drag and Drop
The Employees Maintenance window also allows you to move employees between different organisational entities by dragging and dropping (as illustrated below click on the thumbnail to expand the graphic). You can also drag and drop organisational entities when you reorganise your organisation. There is no limit to the depth of your structure.
Help Facilities - a Typical Help Window
Telecost provides extensive help using the latest help technology. Click on the thumbnail to see the expanded graphic.
We've only be able to show you a small sample of the screen available with Telecost, why not download the demonstration or some documentation - click here.
Traditionally call logging has been slow, cumbersome and difficult to use. Telecost breaks the mould. It's quick easy to use and many operations can be performed automatically without user intervention. All of the competitor system that we have critically examined require you to master at least 3 (and in one case 13!) different interfaces with Telecost it is 2. We pride ourselves on our consistent interface that rigorously complies with the Windows interface guidelines.
If you have a modern switchboard installation can often be done without the requirement of a site visit, thus reducing costs. We really are different.
Deregulation means that there are many ways to buy telephone services. The defence of established suppliers has been to complicate tariffs, so that there are no easy "back of an envelope" comparisons. Telecost can give you those comparisons - accurately, for your particular usage patterns. Telecost can help decide whether a proposed supplier change or equipment investment is likely to be worthwhile in call charge savings. To see how easy it is, download the demo today.
Part of your phone bill will be for line rental. But if you aren't using all your lines, that rental is wasted. You may have other lines reserved for fax machines, computers or other purposes which don't go through the switchboard. By putting these through the switchboard, the unused capacity of the physical trunk lines can be shared with other users, further reducing the total number of lines needed. And you will gain the benefit of unified reporting through Telecost.
Knowing how often calls go unanswered, or how often all your exchange lines are in use can help make the decision about equipment levels in other areas too.
Perhaps you are missing calls, either because there are insufficient staff at certain times of the day, or because you don't have enough trunk lines to meet the level of use at some times. Telecost can measure the size of these problems and let you plan accordingly.
The use of business phones for private calls is very widespread. In fact call charges alone for personal calls for one person are typically a hundred pounds per year (sometimes many times more), and the salary, overheads and lost productivity is costing several times the person's salary. Even a minute a day averages hundreds of pounds a year in direct and indirect costs. The employee isn't just having a phone call at the employer's expense, he's being paid a good salary on top, and earning benefits like pension, and leave. And they generally use more work time before and after the call, thinking about it, distracted from their real duties. And more time again “getting back in the groove” of their real duties.
This is serious and important, yet widely overlooked. The prudent manager does not drive it underground by overreacting. Over the years a tacit culture develops that personal calls are OK as long as they aren't "blatant". Translated, this means they're OK as long as you're not usually seen doing it. So there’s more of it going on than anyone thinks - even the people doing it. Why not download a demo now?
For sales staff, support staff and others whose phone use is vital to their job, it's important to know how well they use it. How many calls an hour do they make or answer? How quickly do they answer the phone? How long to they spend on each call? This kind of summary information is easy to obtain with Telecost, and simply seeing how they and others are using the phone can alter the way people work. It can also be the basis of a little healthy competition to motivate staff.
If you have a telesales team, then daily or hourly statistics not only measure and motivate staff performance, they can also help in setting staff levels for various hours of the day, and choosing the number of exchange lines and extensions to install. To order Telecost click here
Telecost links phone numbers to contact details, and can even deal with notional charge rates for the non-telephone costs of calls, so you can see how much time is spent on the phone with particular customers. Sometimes a customer makes heavy use of effectively free consultancy by phoning your staff with questions on any subject they may be knowledgeable about. He builds up a close working relationship, probably related to your business, but in no way part of any product or service you thought you supplied. Your staff love to be helpful. The customer gets a wonderful service. But neither worry how much it’s really costing.
Using Telecost's reports, it is possible to bill customers for services provided, and to have those bills backed up by specific, accurate logging of the calls. To see the range of reports available, download the demo today.
The problem with unauthorised phone use is that there are always new ways to beat the system emerging. Using Telecost will help you spot when this is affecting you, whatever its mechanism. You may say “how can anyone outside my organisation be stealing phone charges from me?” Here's just one example.
Your PBX may allow staff to redirect their calls to another number. A cracker can search for such opportunities and out of office hours can redirect it to a desired number (e.g. in India, Australia etc.), then by dialling to your redirected number, they get a free international call. They can redirect to each number they want to call, and then cancel the redirection. They can set up their computer to do the work, so it’s as easy as dialling direct. They pay a local charge; you pay international or premium charges.
Have you got a query regarding your site? Send us an e-mail.
Because Telecost comes with detailed charging tables, you’ll know what your phone bill should be, and what it might be if you switched to another telephone service supplier. Telecost also handles multiple providers. If you have both BT lines and C&W lines, Telecost will automatically use the right rate for each call.
These charging tables deal with minimum charge per call, change of charge rate during a call, changes of tariff over time, correct rounding of charges to charge units, time or money. The sophistication and accuracy of these calculations is an important feature of Telecost.
Modern PBX's can accept calls with different dialled numbers delivered over the same exchange lines. So you can allocate a telephone number (not a line) for use with a particular advertisement or campaign. Telecost can produce reports revealing immediately the number of responses generated by the ad or campaign, allowing it to be quickly evaluated and revised.
Call logging is not enough on its own. You need to see your costs in terms that are meaningful to you. Telecost can hold a database of your organisational structure, and the relationship of extensions to people, departments and projects. You can analyse and track calls in a way that's meaningful to you.
Not only your own extensions, but the numbers you call, and which call you, can be stored in Telecost’s database, giving even greater insight and precision if you have CLI (calling line identification) in your logs.
Telecost is much more than a simple call logger; it’s a database and analyser as well.
To see a succinct list of Telecost features click here.
The
business case for buying Telecost is strong
For the
average company with 50-250 employees Telecost can cost as little as 2-3% of
annual call costs (Ofcom figures), yet with sensible application Telecost
can save an organisation far more than that.
Telecost
can help you
Attack
Costs
Combat
Fraud
Crack
Down on Abuse
Monitor
Performance
Resolve
Disputes
Plan
Telephone Capacity
Exchange
Data with Many Popular Applications
Telecost
is easy to use, also there is a comprehensive help file and user manuals
Telecost
monitors phone systems in real-time and can send e-mails when user-specified
conditions occur allowing immediate action
Telecost
is a complete solution as it comes with reports, graphs and agents
(alerts/alarms) there are no add-on extras
Telecost
is easier to use, is more versatile, quicker and has greater capacity than
its rivals
Once
registered there is 90 days free support.
There are three levels of product support available for Telecost - Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. Their options are listed in the table below.
|
|
Basic |
Intermediate |
Advanced |
|
Cost of Support |
Free |
10% of current purchase price per annum (subject to a minimum cost of £65) |
15% of current purchase price per annum (subject to a minimum cost of £97.50) |
|
Support Options |
by email |
by email |
by email |
|
Response Times |
within 20 working days |
within 1 working day |
within 4 working hours |
|
Free Costing Table Updates3 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
1 - All products are offered with 90 days Intermediate support included in the purchase price.
2 - Remote Access will be via PCAnywhere or Remote Desktop Connection. You will be responsible for supplying the software.
3 - Extra Costing Table Updates can be purchased at a rate of £30.00 (+ VAT) per carrier service.
We are considering trailing a support package using video-conferencing. In order to participate in such a trial you will need an ISDN line or better, and some desktop video-conferencing equipment. If you are interested in this option, please contact us at support@telecost.co.uk
If you have a technical support question, then for email support contact support@telecost.co.uk, or for telephone support call +44 (0)1491 411357
The cost of Telecost Call Management is dependent on a number of factors.
The type
of PABX that you have. For Network Alchemy and IP Office systems the cost
is at a flat rate, whereas for any other type of system it is based on the
number of extensions that the system supports.
Whether
we need to come onto site to install the software.
Any
customisations requested to the standard reports.
To find out how much it would cost you to get Telecost installed click here for our enquiry page or give us a call on +44 (0)1491 412018 for an immediate quote.
Telecost supports a wide range of PABXs and if your particular make isn't listed then we can normally write a new driver in about half a day.
Albertronic
Alcatel
Avaya IP
Office and Network Alchemy
BTEX
Digilink
Ericsson
MD110
Expander
Goldstar
Interconnect 200
IP Office
iSDX
Siemens (was GPT)
Kinsman
Masterline DXE
Mitel
Monarch
Network
Alchemy - Gold
Network
Alchemy - Branch
Network
Alchemy - Office
Nortel
Meridian
Octara
Onyx
Panasonic
Pentara
Regent
SAE 260
Plus
SDX
Siemens
Hicom Series
Telrad
Tie
Toshiba
What if my switchboard/PABX is not yet supported by Telecost?
Can I use Telecost to analyse itemised phone bills?
How do I get support for Telecost?
How should my logging cable be wired?
If you find that your current switchboard or PABX is not in the list of those supported by Telecost, either send an email with the details to sales@telecost.co.uk or fill in the enquiry form. It may be that the system is supported and has been sold under a different name, or if not, we are usually happy to add the logging format for your system to the list at no extra cost to you. If yours is the first of a particular model to be supported by Telecost, you will also receive the benefit of closer working with us during the installation and setting-up of the product.
The Telecost Licence price is determined by the number of telephone extensions against which Telecost will report. This is normally the same as the number of physical extensions, unless you use hot desking with your switchboard. Click here to order. However for Network Alchemy and IP Office Products the product is a fixed price irrespective of the number of extensions.
No. If you would have preferred this, let us know, and we may review our policy.
Telecost does not currently have the facility to import your itemised phone bill. However, it can produce reports from your actual phone log which can be used to verify your phone bill.
Telecost Ltd are a wholly owned subsidiary of Software Tools Ltd, suppliers of software products and consultancy to major telephone service providers for over 17 years.
Standard Telecost support is free of charge for the first 90 days after purchase. Thereafter we have a number of support options click here for further details.
You will need to find out the details of the logging port of your switchboard. You may be able to simply buy from your switchboard supplier a correct cable. Alternatively, the installer of your switchboard will often have left with you an installation and configuration manual giving the information. If there is a problem, ask us at support@telecost.co.uk.
Dealer (and other) enquiries are welcome. Telecost has already been rebadged and sold under another label. Address all such enquiries to sales@telecost.co.uk or give us a call on +44 (0)1491 412018
We can arrange a site visit (for which there will be a charge) to install and configure the system including configuring the serial port. If you are confident you do not need this, for example because you have your own IT/telephony specialist, then you may purchase direct. In either case, please complete the enquiry form.
Prices are normally dependent on the number of extensions to be covered. We aim to be competitive and we try to match quotes from other sources. Contact us for a quotation
Various levels of support are available. Please go to the support to see the details.
For clients with a
current maintenance contract upgrades are provided free on request. For
those without a current maintenance contract the price is on application.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
||||||
